Exploring Different Salesforce Job Titles

When it comes to a career change into Salesforce, job titles can be confusing. Unless you’ve got a background in IT or you’ve worked with Salesforce before, you’re likely to become a bit stuck when you start looking and you see a list like this:

Salesforce Solution Architect
Salesforce Administrator
Salesforce Solution Consultant
Salesforce Technical Consultant
Salesforce Consultant
Salesforce Business Analyst
Salesforce DevOps lead
Salesforce Technical Architect
Salesforce can you just do everything title?

You get the point. I see a lot of posts on Reddit/LinkedIn of people searching for a Salesforce role and asking which one should I go for?. This post is going to cover why when starting your Salesforce career you should forget the title and concentrate on your skills.

So where do you begin? You’re looking at the list, confused thinking they all look the same, what’s the difference between a solution consultant and a technical consultant? and the short answer is, not a lot. Choosing where you should start your career should be entirely down to you and your background. I covered in this post that Salesforce has a great careers page which explains each of the roles, and what you could typically expect in each of them, which is a great place to start. You should also be thinking what do you enjoy doing and what do you have current experience in?. Don’t be forced into a role because some of your skills don’t fit the job description, these can easily be picked up and you’ll be a lot happier in the long run doing something which you enjoy.

Most people I see asking these questions about roles on these social websites do not have Salesforce experience, and that’s OK. For some reason people think that in order to land a Salesforce role, you just need to dig into Trailhead for a couple months and then you’ll be fine. Whilst this is a great thing to do, it’s not the only deciding factor whether you should get the job or not. Soft skills are much harder to learn and master than Salesforce, and to me this is the key. You can learn Salesforce to a good standard in a matter of months, but can you confidently stand in front of a room of people and present to them or run a workshop?. If the answer is yes then to me you already have a one up over other candidates. This is why when you’re looking at these Salesforce roles you’re much better fitting to experience and skills you already have. Here’s a look at some roles I would recommend if you don’t have Salesforce experience:

Salesforce Administrator - The one most people gravitate towards to, and a great starting place. You’re responsible for an end user of Salesforce and maintaining it to the clients requirements. I learnt and did much more hands on Salesforce stuff in this role than any other i’ve had in my career. If you’re confident speaking to clients, working with business requirements then you’ve already won half the battle. The only thing left to do is translate those requirements into a working Salesforce solution, but this comes with experience.
Business Analyst - Some of the best BA’s I know have no Salesforce experience. This is a great place to get exposure to Salesforce and begin learning how it works, whilst you deal with the gathering of requirements. There is obviously a lot more to a BA role, but it’s also a great place to start especially if your Salesforce knowledge is limited. You can work alongside experience consultants/architects whilst learning.
Salesforce Consultant - I worked as an admin for 3 years before becoming a consultant, but this doesn’t have to be the case. As a consultant you’re working with multiple clients and responsible for delivering and shaping the best solution possible. If you have experience as I mentioned working with clients/confidently extracting requirements then you’re again winning the battle. This role is a lot more fast paced than the admin role and often requires travelling, so if you enjoy that then i’d focus on this over the admin role.
Salesforce Developer - If you’re technically focused, there are some great developer roles out there. Salesforce apex programming language is not too dissimilar from other programming languages and easier to pickup.
Junior/Entry Level - With each of the roles listed, they’re often segmented into junior/senior versions. Junior positions are great roles to get into whilst still learning and working on those skills which you already possess. A quick search on LinkedIn threw up this.. look no Salesforce experience begin asked.

Apprenticeship/Graduate - If like me you’re fresh out of college/university then there are some great roles available at this level. Ok the pay isn’t great, but you’re learning loads that will benefit your career in the long run.
Volunteering - A lot of non-profit customers of Salesforce have volunteering opportunities. They get help at a minimal cost, whilst you’re getting hands-on experience to boost your CV. Worthwhile taking a look, right?

Each of these roles are great places to start if you have no or little Salesforce experience. It’s not going to be easy, especially with the influx of people upskilling and getting their certs, but if you focus on your soft skills and show willingness to learn, it means more than just knowing Salesforce. Confidence is key.

Whilst some of the other roles didn’t make it to this list, there’s no reason if you have background in those that you can’t go straight in. For example architecture. If you have background as an architect then most definitely coming in the Solution Architect/Technical Architect level is a possibility based upon experience.

There are so many misconceptions people have when it comes to a career move into Salesforce. Lets have a look at a couple which I personally think are incorrect.

Salesforce Administrator Certification. You do not need this cert to get a job in Salesforce. Whilst it’s a great thing to have, there’s thousands of people are in the same boat. Build your CV focusing on your soft skills and anything which you have learnt from Trailhead. Look for those volunteering opportunities or more junior roles, you can then progress towards this cert whilst gaining experience.

You have to progress in a linear fashion. For some reason people think the career paths in Salesforce are linear. i.e I have to start as an admin before progressing to consultant > solution architect > technical architect. Again, not true. Whilst I have done this myself, and each role opens you up to experience which will be useful in the next, it doesn’t have to be linear. You might love being a Salesforce Admin and not want to join the hectic life of a consultant or architect (not that admins aren’t hectic). That’s fine. Don’t feel forced to follow a linear route, do what you enjoy doing.

You have to have Salesforce experience to find a role. As I mentioned whilst this is beneficial and a lot of the job ads I see ask for it, its not the be all and end all. Keep building your CV, focusing on Trailhead, building up your demo environment and getting yourself out there (go to Salesforce user groups etc). This is separating yourselves from others and you should be able to find a role fairly easy. Start from the bottom and work your way up.

Now this is a topic I feel quite strongly about, certs. So many job ads which I see ask for a cert as a minimum, and they’re limiting themselves finding the correct person for the role. If you’re anything like me, I hate revision and I hate exams (not just Salesforce). I failed my Admin exam the first time after using Salesforce for over a year, and I should have known I wasn’t ready. Don’t feel pressured to get certifications, and only go for them when you feel you’re ready.

During my career I have met a lot of Salesforce professionals and learnt that just because they have all the Salesforce certs under the sun, doesn’t mean they’re that great. And vice versa, I have met some people which are amazing and they have no certs at all. Some people are just better are taking things in and taking exams, that’s the way of the world. Whilst I am not knocking certifications (and you should definitely get them) don’t let them define you as a Salesforce professional. They look good on your CV but can you back them up in person?.

It’s very easy to give up and start critiquing yourself. Keep looking and putting yourself forward for these roles, if anything you’re learning what companies are looking for and gaining great experience of the interview process. Salesforce is showing no sign of slowing down, so it’s not too late to begin. If you’re seeing ads asking for 10 years experience and loads of certs for these roles, they’re the ones losing out. Use this time during lockdown wisely to upskill and be ready to show the world your newly found Salesforce skills.

Hopefully you see now why you don’t need to stress about Salesforce job titles. They’re all linked in one way another, it’s just about finding the role which suits you as a person the best. Focus on your existing skills and find the best fit for you, the rest will come. I’d love to hear from you if you’re searching for your first Salesforce role what your experience has been. Contact me via twitter or LinkedIn and of course if you have any questions i’d love to help!. Subscribe below if you don’t want to miss any of our new content, and also check out my Youtube channel here.